2019 CHL playoffs
The 2019 CHL playoffs was the playoff tournament of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The playoffs began on April 6, 2019, after the 2018-19 CHL season, and ended on May 28, as the Thompson Kings defeated the Montréal Québécois in three games to win the 2019 Donavan Cup Championship Series. The London Settlers and Saskatchewan Cartoonists finished as the top teams in their conferences, Eastern and Western respectively. Four teams made returns to the postseason after long absences (3+ seasons): the Montréal Québécois, London Settlers, Thompson Kings and the Assiniboia Aztecs. For the fifth straight season, a team that played in the previous year's Donavan Cup Championship Series failed to advance to the playoffs as the Hull Pirates slipped to the cellar of the Quebec Division. Also, the Winnipeg Sharks failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2000 edition, ending the longest streak in league history at 18 seasons. This playoffs featured the seventeenth time the Regina Icebergs and Regina Reigns face each other in the playoffs, and the fifth time meeting in the Divisional Round. For the second time in three seasons, the Thunder Bay Aliens won their opening series as a 10-seed, this time defeating the London Settlers. The Thompson Kings won their first playoff series since 2004. For the first time in league history, the Western Conference Championship Series featured two teams from the Northwest Division. Also, by sweeping the Montréal Québécois in the2019 Donavan Cup Championship Series, Thompson extended their CHL playoffs record for consecutive wins to 12 games. They also set a new record for highest win percentage in playoffs history, winning an amazing 79% of their games. In total, Thompson compiled a 15-4 record in the playoffs, with their final loss coming in Game 2 of the Quarterfinals to the Saskatchewan Cartoonists. Thompson was also the first team since 2008 to win the Donavan Cup Championshpi Series after playing in all five rounds. Playoff seeds This was the twenty-third year the division winners in each conference are given top seeding, regardless of their record versus the record of another team in a different division. There were twenty teams in the postseason in total. Prior to April 6, the following teams qualified for the playoffs: 'Eastern Conference' 'Western Conference' 'Notes' Playoff bracket In each round, teams compete in a best-of-five series following a 2-3 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-five series). The team with the lower seeding plays at home for the first two games, while the team with the higher seeding plays at home for the third game (and for games four and five, if necessary). The top two teams in each division advance to the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, while in the Western Conference, three teams advance from the Capitals and 'Ouest divisions, alongside two teams from the Northwest and Southwest divisions, for a total of ten teams per conference. In a style similar to the National Basketball Association's playoffs, the lower-seeded team faces the higher-seeded team (1-10, 2-9, 3-8, 4-7, 5-6). In the Divisional Round, the lowest-seeded team to win their series automatically skips the Conference Quarterfinals and advances to the Conference Semi-Finals. The highest-seeded team to win their series in the Conference Quarterfinals automatically advances to the Conference Championship Series, where they will face the winner of the Conference Semi-Finals. The winner of the Conference Championship Series advances to the Donavan Cup Championship Series. Divisional Round Eastern Conference Divisional Round